Here's what happened when demonstrators questioned this officer's commitment to her Black community

When Stacy Clarke — one of the highest ranking Black police officers in Canada — was targeted at a recent protest, she tried turn the incident into an educational moment. 

"What we achieved with the demonstrators that day was authentic relationship-building," Clarke said in an interview with CBC Toronto news anchor Dwight Drummond. 

"They were in pain — and rightfully so." 

Clarke was targeted by demonstrators who were chanting at her specifically at a rally against anti-Black racism, questioning her commitment to her Black community. 

Toronto has seen multiple protests and demonstrations against racism and police brutality following the deaths of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Toronto woman who fell to her death from her apartment balcony, and George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died as he was pinned under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25.

But Clarke, an inspector with the Toronto Police Service, said she didn't take the comments of the demonstrators personally, and in fact related to what they were saying. 

"I recognized that they were chanting at my uniform and what my uniform represents," she said. 

"I was emotional at some points because I was feeling a lot of the pain that the community was feeling." 

That's why Clarke tried to use the moment as a learning experience for everyone involved — including the white officers she commands — by attempting to be "compassionate and empathetic" to the protesters. 

"I need to figure out a way to make my uniform bridge the gap between what they're saying who I am and what the service represents." 

You can watch the full interview between Clarke and Drummond in the media player above.